Reversal
by Deja Know I Been Lookin For Vu
Summary: Will Luke follow in his father's footsteps?
1. Duel

**Title: ****Reversal****  
****Author: Deja Vu**  
**Summary: Will Luke follow in his father's footsteps?**  
**Rating: ****No language, mild violence.****  
****Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, but this story is mine. Any dialogue or plot from or based on that in A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back is copyright Lucas.**  
**Characters: Luke, Obi-Wan, female OC, the Lars, the droids, Leia, Han, Chewie, Yoda, Vader, OT minor characters.**  
**Author's Thanks: Thanks to Kitt for moral support and helping flesh Alesya out, and many, many thanks to Sue for her fantastic beta reading!**  
**Author's Note: This is no masterpiece. I just wanted to experiment with this first scene, and the rest of the story followed. Updates should be at least once a week but will probably be more frequent than that.**

* * *

**  
**He was fighting with Obi-Wan, the man who had been his mentor. The man who had been his friend. The man who had been like a father to him.

Their sabers clashed, blue on blue, bright flashes of light jumping out with each blow. Rage was all he could feel. It pumped through his body and filled his soul. The blur of blue in front of him meant nothing to him.

Images surged through his mind, feeding his rage.

_Obi-Wan, approaching him from the darkness, requesting that he not marry._

_Obi-Wan, standing with Yoda, caring more about a flawed order than a person's happiness._

_Obi-Wan, the perfect Jedi, standing on muddy ground, convincing him not to save his wife from dying._

Sweat was pouring down both their faces. He knew it was there, though he couldn't feel it. But like the clashing sabers, it meant nothing to him.

Neither of them had ever fought a battle like this. He was fighting out of anger, sorrow, desperation, and it was all Obi-Wan could do to block his blows. The older man's experience was nothing compared to the raw emotion emanating from _his_ entire being.

Somehow, he knew that he could kill Obi-Wan right now if he wanted. Just as he knew Obi-Wan could do the same to him.

Instead of reaching that end, they remained locked in a dance, an elegant procrastination of the inevitable outcome of this confrontation.

In the back of his mind, a thought whispered, _How could it come to all this?_

How had Luke Skywalker come to be pitted in a duel against his Jedi Master?


	2. Payment

_He_ _woke up to find mirthful brown eyes staring down at him. "Hey, sleepyhead," his wife of two years greeted him. They'd met three years ago when she had crashed her Skyhopper outside Tosche Station, and they had married the day after graduation at the top of Beggar's Canyon, which they had driven away from in the very Skyhopper that had instigated their meeting. As he smiled at the sudden memories, she leaned down to brush a kiss against his forehead._

_Grinning, he wrapped his arms around her, rolling over to pin her against the bed._

_She laughed, pretending to struggle._

_"I've got you trapped!" Luke informed her mirthfully. "You know what that means—you have to make me breakfast!"_

_Alesya rolled her eyes. "I'm sure your aunt has a fine enough breakfast prepared for us. Now, get up. You need to help your uncle with the Break-a-rator."_

_He groaned, slapping his hand against the side of his head. "Is that vaporator messed up _again_?"_

_"Do you even need to ask?"_

_Luke rubbed his hand over his face to remove the sleep. He was only twenty years old, but he felt as if he had been fixing that stupid moisture vaporator for decades. It was times like this that he wished he had been able to save up enough money to move to Mos Eisley to be a mechanic. There'd barely been enough money for the wedding, though, and he knew he was fortunate that Aunt Beru had convinced Uncle Owen to both let them marry and to allow them to stay at the homestead. He knew she had persuaded him by telling him that Luke would surely skip planet to marry Alesya Fairblast if they weren't given permission to marry. But Luke suspected she had known that he didn't have enough money for that—fortunately, Uncle Owen didn't know that._

_Still, he continued saving up, doing odd mechanical jobs for a few of the nearby homesteads when he had some spare time and they had some spare money. Times were tough, and the high Imperial taxes made them tougher._

_"Luke?"_

_Broken out of his reverie, Luke queried, "Hmm?"_

_"What's wrong?"_

_"Oh. Nothing. Just thinking."_

_She gave him a gentle smile. "We will make it off-planet some day, Luke. Don't worry."_

_She knew him better than anyone. She knew how much he yearned to travel the galaxy…How much he wanted to fly._

_"Let's go eat," he said quietly, trying to pull his mind away from the stars._

_She took his hand and squeezed it, and they left the room together._

* * *

**  
**_"I thought you didn't have any spare credits." Luke felt betrayed. He had recently asked Owen for money to upgrade his T-16 Skyhopper but been denied—a few months previously, a vaporator had needed to be replaced, and Luke had given the money he had earned from shooting womp rats to his uncle with the promise of repayment. He'd intended to use those credits to upgrade his airspeeder, which might then have led to more credits, as he would have been able to have an even greater impact on the womp rat overpopulation with a more maneuverable vehicle. Now, he wondered if he would ever get the money back._

_"We need some more droids to help, Luke." His uncle was avoiding eye contact. "Times are tough right now."_

_"You're not the only—"_

_"Luke," Alesya said softly, intervening. "It's all right."_

_The young man bit back the rest of his words, feeling bitter because even through his anger he knew his uncle was being practical. "Give me the money. I'll go pick them out." He practically snatched the sack of credits from his uncle before disappearing out the door._

_Owen looked at Alesya, his brow streaked with lines._

_"I'll make sure he doesn't do anything rash," she said soothingly, though they both knew Luke wouldn't do any such thing. If there was one thing Luke knew, it was machines, and he would pick out good ones._

_"We need a droid that speaks Bocce," Owen told her quietly, his gaze moving to where his nephew had disappeared._

_"I'll tell him," she promised before exiting._

* * *

**  
**_When she finally reached Luke's side, he was already talking to a pair of Jawas. Several other Jawas were hastily ushering their droids to stand in front of their Sandcrawler._

_She started to speak, but Luke beat her to it. "Bocce, I know." He knew his uncle and the needs of the moisture farm well. Though there was little on the farm to work with, he was a good worker, just like his uncle. He was probably even a better worker than his uncle—his skill with machines had topped his uncle's for years. If he had actually enjoyed his work on Tatooine, he would have been like the perfect son for Owen. But he didn't, and so he remained the unhappy nephew—a skilled young man who was unfit for a farmer's life and whose high aspirations clashed with his uncle's __down-to-earth mindset._

_It took only a few minutes for the droids to be lined up. Covered in dust and grime, they weren't exactly crying out to be sold. But Luke wove his way through them, touching and examining them carefully. He finally moved in front of a golden protocol droid. "What's your name?"_

_"I am See-Threepio," the droid responded quickly, "human-cyborg relations. I am fluent in over six million forms of communication and am equipped with more than thirty secondary functions."_

_"Can you speak Bocce?"_

_The droid inclined his head in a nod. "I can, sir. In fact—"_

_"What about moisture vaporators? Can you understand their binary language?" Alesya ventured._

_"I do, indeed. I am well versed in binary, and I have experience in programming binary load lifters." The golden droid seemed to be trying to sell himself. Not that he could be blamed—the Jawas weren't exactly known for being kind to droids. _Not like the Skywalkers,_ Alesya mused._

_"How much do you want for this one?" Luke asked a Jawa, pointing to the protocol droid._

_Alesya didn't understand Jawaese, but the answer apparently didn't please Luke. He frowned. "That much? We might as well wait for the next Sandcrawler to stop by if you're planning on charging that."_

_The Jawa hastily uttered an amendment and a question._

_"I'm wanting two droids," Luke answered._

_A few more sentences from the Jawa, and Luke looked satisfied. "All right."_

_He looked back at the droids, moving toward and touching a red R5 unit before resting his eyes and hands on an R2 unit. The droid, even though it didn't have a face, somehow managed to give him a very solemn gaze. A quiet whistle added a touch of curiosity to the droid's bearing._

_Luke stared back at the droid before finally finding his voice. "This one. I want this one."_

_The Jawa looked displeased, gesturing at the R5 unit as an alternative._

_"Both of these droids for the price you quoted me, or I'll wait for the next group of Jawas to come by."_

_The Jawa gave the equivalent of a sigh then gave a sign of assent. Luke dug into his uncle's credit pouch, handing to the Jawa the agreed-upon amount and then gesturing the two droids forward._

_When out of earshot of the Jawas, Alesya inquired, "What was that about?"_

_Luke shook his head. "I don't know. I just have a feeling about these droids."_

_"I thank you for choosing the two of us," the protocol droid—Threepio—spoke up. "Those Jawas are nasty creatures."_

_"They're not too bad," Luke said, shrugging noncommittally._

_Alesya looked at Threepio. "You said 'the two of us,'" she pointed out. "Do you know each other?"_

_"We have worked together for some time. It was misfortunate that we landed in the Jawa's hands."_

_Alesya looked at her husband thoughtfully. Was it a coincidence he'd chosen them both, even though he had not known of their connection to each other?_

_Owen was standing in the door of the homestead, gazing expectantly at his nephew._

_"Stay here," Luke muttered, moving forward. When he was a few feet in front of his uncle, he said, "The protocol droid speaks Bocce and binary." He held forward the pouch of credits, but his uncle didn't take it._

_"Keep it," the man said gruffly. "Consider it the interest on what I owe you." He turned around with an instruction, "Take those droids to the garage and clean them up." Then he entered the compound._

_Luke clutched the pouch in his fist. His uncle was scraping by just as he was. He needed to be easier on him._

_He considered going after his uncle to give the money back, but he knew the older man was too proud to take it. It had only been through Aunt Beru's intervention that Uncle Owen had consented to accepting the credits in the first place._

_He sighed before moving to return to his wife and his uncle's new droids._

* * *

**  
**_Before long, Alesya was aiding Threepio with his oil bath as Luke scrubbed Artoo. Threepio seemed particularly content with this new development._

_"I'm Alesya Skywalker," she introduced herself to the protocol droid. "This is my husband, Luke. What is your friend's name?"_

_"Artoo-Detoo," the droid replied. "He has his annoying quirks, but he is a very valuable worker."_

_The astromech droid gave an indignant blat, and Alesya laughed. "I know exactly how you feel, Threepio."_

_Luke rolled his eyes. "I know how he feels and _then_ some," he retorted, pausing briefly from his task. "Stars, there's an awful lot of carbon scoring here," he noted as he began scrubbing the astromech droid again. "Have you two seen some action?"_

_"Frankly, with the Rebellion and all, I am amazed at the condition we're in," Threepio responded._

_"You're in the Rebellion?" Luke jerked his head up in interest. "Have you been in many battles?"_

_Alesya watched her husband's excited face with a sense of sadness. If times hadn't been so tough, he would have already joined the Rebellion. She would have followed him—she wasn't such a bad pilot, herself—but they were needed here, and they both knew it._

_"I'm not sure how many," the droid responded thoughtfully, "and, truthfully, I am not much of a storyteller, so I wouldn't have much to say about it."_

_Luke was about to ask another question before he got distracted by what he was doing. "There's something jammed in here." He grabbed a different tool, working at it, before falling backwards as something snapped and a hologram of a young woman popped up._

_"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi," the hologram said. "You're my only hope."_

_"What's that?" Alesya asked curiously._

_Artoo gave a sheepish beep._

_"That's not 'nothing,'" Luke pointed out, staring at the hologram. He felt a strange connection with this woman, even though he'd never met her. "She looks like she's in trouble."_

_Threepio answered him, "She was a passenger on our captain's ship. A princess, I believe."_

_Artoo made several insistent beeps._

_"Old data?" Luke frowned. "I don't think that's what it is. Where's the rest of this recording?" He began moving toward Artoo, but the droid made several frantic whistles. At them, Luke's frown deepened._

_"What did he say?" Alesya asked._

_"He says he's Obi-Wan Kenobi's property and that the message is meant for him," Luke told her pensively. "Do you think he means old Ben?"_

_"It's possible," she admitted._

_"You know who he is talking about, Master Luke, Mistress Alesya?" Threepio queried, looking as puzzled as it was possible for a protocol droid to do._

_"We might," Alesya answered. She exchanged a look with her husband. "What do you think we should do?"_

_"Uncle Owen won't like it, but I think we should go see if the droids belong to Ben," Luke said slowly._

_Alesya nodded. "I agree. We should go early tomorrow, before he wakes up."_

_Her husband looked thoughtful. "Yes, we shouldn't even mention it to him." Every time Ben Kenobi's name came up, Uncle Owen got upset. Luke didn't know what he and Alesya would do when they got there—they couldn't afford to give the droids back to Ben, if they _were_ even his. Still, maybe all Ben—or this Obi-Wan, if he was a relative of Ben's—needed was the message._

_Artoo began beeping, suggesting that if Luke removed his restraining bolt, then perhaps he could play the whole message. But a call from the homestead cut the astromech off, and Alesya gave the droid an apologetic look. "Sorry, we have to go."_

_The two humans disappeared, leaving the two droids staring after them._

_Artoo gave a nasty retort, and Threepio exclaimed, "Really, Artoo! Behave yourself. These are your masters, now."_

_The astromech unit gave a resigned bleep._


	3. Darkness

_The next morning, Luke managed to guide them to Ben Kenobi's home. The man himself was standing outside, looking as if he were expecting them._

_Luke stopped his landspeeder and hopped out. His hand started to go down to the blaster at his side, but he stopped it. There was no reason to fear Ben, even if it _were_ strange that he somehow knew they were coming. He never really knew how to react to Ben's presence—he'd had many strange encounters with him._

_Once, the old man had saved Luke from some Sand People; another time, the man had appeared out of nowhere and guided him to safety during a sandstorm. Still, the most unusual occurrence was probably when Ben had come a few days after Luke had proposed marriage to Alesya. Luke had been outside one night cheerfully working on the Break-a-rator when the old man had come up behind him, startling him and causing him to drop his tool. Ben hadn't even started with small talk—he had begun with, "I hear you are considering marriage, young Luke," and proceeded to gently but firmly attempt to convince him to change his mind. Had Luke not known of his uncle's dislike for the old man, he would have suspected that the hot-headed Owen had sent Ben to try out a different dissuading tactic. But Luke had stood his ground; he had told the hermit that he loved Aleysa and that there was no reason they shouldn't be married. At that comment, something strange had appeared in Ben's eyes, but Luke had been too annoyed to inquire, and the old man had left soon afterward. Luke had gotten the feeling that Ben Kenobi somehow knew something he didn't._

_In fact, he was getting that feeling now._

_"Did you know we were coming?" Luke asked, moving forward. He knew old Ben would never harm him, but he still felt uneasy around him—but it was not because of the "wizard" rumors like most of the other people who knew of him. Instead, it was because Luke felt the strange man had secrets he would one day reveal to him—secrets he wasn't sure he wanted to know._

_"Luke, Alesya," the old man greeted kindly, not answering his question. "Why did you come?"_

_Straight to the point, then. Luke could play that game, too. "This droid here claims to belong to an Obi-Wan Kenobi. We were wondering if you knew who he was talking about."_

_The man looked almost like he had been bowled over. "Obi-Wan?" he echoed. "I have not heard that name in quite some time…"_

_"So, you know him?" Alesya asked._

_"Come in," he said with a gesture, bypassing her question._

_They all moved from the speeder to Ben's home. After sitting down next to his wife, Luke tried again. "Do you know Obi-Wan Kenobi?"_

_The older man smiled. "Yes, I do. Obi-Wan's me."_

_"So, Artoo belongs to you," Alesya said, exchanging a worried look with Luke. What would they tell Owen if they just gave the droid away?_

_"I never owned a droid," Ben said thoughtfully, "though I do recognize this one."_

_Artoo gave a content beep, swiveling his dome._

_"He was an ally of your father's in the Clone Wars," Ben told Luke._

_The younger man blinked for a few seconds before responding. "But my father wasn't part of the wars—he was just a navigator on a spice freighter."_

_"So says your uncle." Ben smiled. "Owen was trying to protect you—he didn't want you to follow in your father's footsteps."_

_Alesya frowned. "Did you fight in the Clone Wars?"_

_"I did. Both Anakin Skywalker and I were Jedi Knights." Seeing the information-starved look on Luke's face, Ben imparted a few more details. "He was a great warrior and one of the best pilots in the galaxy. He was…my Padawan, my friend. He was like my son."_

_Luke looked sadly down at his hands. "I wish I had known him."_

_Alesya put a comforting hand on his shoulder. She hadn't seen her parents in a year, but she'd had a good relationship with them. They had waited for a year to make sure the newlyweds were settled before they left Tatooine to join the Rebellion. She wished she and Luke could have gone with them—but Luke's aunt and uncle needed them too much._

_"He was a great man." Ben shifted, moving to rummage in a chest. "In fact…" He hunted through the chest a little more, finally pulling out something. "This is for you. It's your father's lightsaber, the elegant weapon of a Jedi."_

_Luke took the lightsaber, feeling the cool metal in his hands. He carefully ignited it, noting the long blue blade and the steady hum. He shifted it through the air, listening to it and watching it._

_"Your uncle doesn't approve of the Jedi, but before the Empire, the Jedi were the guardians of peace."_

_Luke reluctantly turned the saber off. "My father—" he hesitated. "How did he die?"_

_Ben's expression turned dark. "Your father was betrayed and murdered by a man the galaxy knows as Darth Vader, the dark right hand of the Emperor. He hunted down all the Jedi who could find, and now they are all but extinct…That man was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force."_

_"The Force?" Alesya asked quietly._

_"It comes from midi-chlorians," Luke said abruptly, surprising the other two people in the room and, it seemed, himself . "They're inside people's cells, and they give the Jedi their powers."_

_"How do you know that?" his wife queried in puzzlement._

_Luke shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. "I've always been interested in the Jedi. It's one of those subjects Uncle Owen hates—so, of course, at the first opportunity, I tried to research them. The Holonet wasn't helpful—there's too much propaganda—but the school librarian had some old texts she let me look at in secret. I copied them, and I kept an eye out for other texts, though I haven't really found much."_

_Alesya's brow was furrowed. "I never knew any of this."_

_"I hadn't found anything for a few years, so I sort of stopped looking…But I always felt like there was something different about me, like I could do things I shouldn't be able to." His forehead crinkled thoughtfully. "Ben, since my father was—"_

_"Yes," Ben said, knowing what he was asking. "You can use the Force, too."_

_"I always wondered…" Luke trailed off._

_Artoo began beeping insistently, garnering their attention._

_Ben smiled. "What is it, little one?"_

_"He has a message for you," Alesya informed him._

_"Let's hear it, then," the Jedi said encouragingly._

_Artoo whistled and then showed the holo._

_The young woman spoke: "General Kenobi. You and my father worked together during the Clone Wars. Now he asks that you help us with our struggle against the Empire. I apologize that I cannot present my father's message in person, but my ship is under attack, and my mission to bring you to Alderaan seems to have failed. In the memory of this R2 unit, you will find information vital to the Rebellion. My father will be able to retrieve it. Please, deliver this droid safely to him. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."_

_The hologram cut off, and there was a moment of silence. In such a short space of time, it felt like everything had changed._

_Ben sat forward, a small smile on his face. "Luke, you must learn the ways of the Force if you two are to go with me to Alderaan."_

_Luke's eyes shone for a brief hopeful second before his face changed and he shook his head adamantly. "No, no, no. We can't go to Alderaan. We have to stay here and help my uncle…" He sighed. "He's going to be furious that we've been gone so long."_

_"We need your help, Luke," the Jedi prodded gently. "I'm getting too old for this kind of thing."_

_"I can't, Ben," the younger man said in a voice that was almost pleading. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "I have to stay here. I hate the Empire—I do—we all do—but I can't do anything about it. I have to help my aunt and uncle. I don't have any other—" Luke cut off, his face slackening. He had a sudden sense of foreboding._

_Evidently, Ben sensed it, too. Grimly, he said, "Luke—"_

_"Th—I have to go." The young man rose and slipped out the door, his father's lightsaber clenched in his hand._

_"Luke, don't—" Ben tried to call out to him. He rushed outside, Alesya following, but Luke was already taking off in the speeder. "Come back, Luke!" he called out desperately._

_"Where is he going?" Alesya asked, feeling strangely frightened and helpless as her husband drove away._

_"To darkness," the old man whispered to himself, lowering his head and squeezing his eyes shut._

* * *

**  
**_Hours later, Luke returned. There was a shadow on his face that had never been there before. "We're going with you to Alderaan," he said in a flat voice._

_Ben and Alesya rose to their feet. "Luke—" the Jedi started hesitantly._

_"At least I can fix s—" Luke cut off and fell to his knees._

_"Luke, what's wrong?" Alesya asked urgently._

_"I…I killed them," Luke whispered. "I killed them all. They're dead, every single one of them."_

_"Who?" Alesya urged. "Who's dead?"_

_"Everyone there. I was too late, but everyone's dead."_

_"You're not making any sense, Luke," his wife trembled._

_Luke's face searched hers, his eyes like those of a wild animal. "The Empire—my aunt and uncle—killed…About to—to leave—"_

_"Wh-what?" Alesya wasn't sure what she was hearing. Ben was silent._

_"They were dead!" Luke snapped. "My aunt and uncle—slaughtered. The Imperials killed them. And so I slaughtered them in return." He held his lightsaber out and dropped it to the floor. "There's blood, blood on my lightsaber."_

_But really, now that Alesya looked, there was no blood on his lightsaber. Instead, it was staining his white tunic._

_He stared at his saber. "I couldn't save them. They were dead, and then everyone else was dead. I held them—they were covered in blood—they'd been beaten before they were killed. Why were they killed? _Why were they killed?_" he shouted._

_"The droids," Ben answered quietly. "They wanted the droids."_

_Luke set his jaw. Money didn't matter anymore. The Empire—he wanted to destroy the Empire. "We're going to Alderaan."_

_"If that's what you want, Luke," Alesya said quietly._

_Artoo made a sad noise, and Threepio put a gentle hand on the astromech's dome._

_"You can go get your stuff," Luke told his wife. "I'm not going back there."_

_"I will go with you," Ben said gently to Alesya. "There should be no danger, but it cannot hurt to be cautious."_

_She nodded mutely. She had never seen a dead person before._


	4. Capture

_After Alesya and Obi-Wan returned, the group went to Mos Eisley. The speeder was crowded, but they made it._

_Before they reached the Mos Eisley cantina, however, they were stopped in the street by several Stormtroopers._

_ "How long have you owned these droids?" one of the armored men asked._

_"For a few seasons," Alesya answered._

_"They're for sale, if you want them," Obi-Wan said with a smile._

_After looking briefly at his companions, the Stormtrooper commanded, "Let me see your identification."_

_Alesya swallowed before fumbling to look through her pockets._

_Obi-Wan waved his hand dismissively, a strangely persuasive tone to his voice. "You do not need to see our identification."_

_"We don't need to see your identification," the Stormtrooper stated flatly._

_Staring at the Imperial, the Jedi made a movement with his hand. "These droids are not the ones you're looking for."_

_"These aren't the droids we're looking for."_

_"We can go about our business."_

_"You can go about your business."_

_Obi-Wan lowered his hand. "Move along."_

_"Move along," the Stormtrooper echoed. He waved his hands in the air. "Move along!"_

_Alesya began to pilot the speeder forward, exhaling a quiet sigh of relief._

_When they were out of earshot, Alesya shook her head. "I don't understand how we got past those troopers. I thought we were dead."_

_Obi-Wan gave her a small smile. "You will find that the Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded."_

_"The Force…" she echoed contemplatively. Moving her head to look at him, she queried, "Is that how you knew Luke was in trouble all those times?"_

_She knew about all of his encounters with Obi-Wan over the years, except for the time Obi-Wan had come to Luke about marrying her. Luke had never told her about that time, and he probably never would._

_"The Force is a powerful ally," the Jedi responded. His eyes twinkled. "And it is particularly helpful when Luke Skywalker is involved."_

_But Luke, who was still in a somber mood, did not show any sign that he had heard the comment._

_When the speeder slowed to pull up in front of the cantina, a Jawa ran up to fondle it. Luke got out of the speeder and managed to silently chase the Jawa away._

_"Are we really going to be able to find a pilot here that will take us all the way to Alderaan?" Alesya asked Obi-Wan as she watched her husband._

_"The best freighter pilots can generally be found here," the Jedi responded. "But watch your step. This place can be a little rough."_

_"I'll be careful," Aleysa promised._

_The Jedi turned briefly to the droids. "You two had better stay out here and wait by the speeder. They don't allow droids in the cantina."_

_"Very well, sir," Threepio acknowledged._

_The three humans moved forward into the Mos Eisley cantina. Both Skywalkers paused at the sight before them. The dark place was filled with an assortment of creatures and seemed more like a monster's den than an alcohol-serving establishment. Obi-Wan left their side to search for a pilot, leaving them to stare for a few more seconds before they began to walk toward the bar._

_While Luke merely sat down at the bar, Alesya ordered a non-alcoholic beverage. "We don't want to offend anyone," she murmured to Luke in explanation, though he didn't respond. She took a few sips of her drink, only to recoil in fright and disgust as a hideous-looking alien started to stroke her arm._

_A human, looking even more freakish than the alien with his disfigured face, leaned toward Alesya. "My friend likes you."_

_Luke stiffened, suddenly leaving his seat to juxtapose himself between his wife and her two antagonists. "I'm sorry?" he asked in a cold voice._

_The alien said something that sounded agitated._

_"He doesn't like _you_, though," the human told Luke._

_"Well, I can't say I like _him_ either," the younger man growled. His right hand was fingering his lightsaber._

_"You had better watch yourself," the human warned Luke, poking him in the chest with his index finger. "We're wanted men. I have the death sentence in twelve systems."_

_"We'll be careful," Alesya said in a voice that attempted to be soothing._

_"You'll be dead!" the other man exclaimed._

_Obi-Wan appeared. "These two are not worth the effort," he said gently. "Come, let me buy you something."_

_But the human was not one for talking, and he leapt at Luke, only to fall on the floor as the young man stepped swiftly aside. The alien yelled, and, suddenly, there were humming noises and bright flashes of blue, and a dismembered arm and two halves of a body lay on the floor._

_Obi-Wan had cut off the alien's arm, while Luke had killed the human. Everyone in the cantina watched in silence as they extinguished their lightsabers, but a few seconds later everything was back to normal._

_The Jedi Master moved toward Luke. Quietly, disappointment readily evident in his voice, he told the younger man, "You should not have killed him."_

_"He would have killed me," Luke said flatly. "I saw him reaching for his blaster."_

_"Next time, slice that thing through the _blaster_ not the person," Alesya whispered furiously._

_Letting the matter slide, Obi-Wan gestured toward an awaiting Wookiee. "This is Chewbacca. He is the copilot of a ship that might suit us."_

_The Wookiee gestured for them to follow him. He led them to a booth where a smug-looking rogue of a man sat. Chewie sat down beside the man and growled something quietly to him._

_The man inclined his head. "Han Solo," he introduced himself. "Captain of the _Millennium Falcon_. So, Chewie tells me you need passage to the Alderaan system."_

_"Yes," Obi-Wan acknowledged. "As long as it's a fast ship."_

_"Fast ship?" the rogue echoed. "You haven't heard of the _Millennium Falcon_? She's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs."_

_Alesya rolled her eyes, and the man caught it. "Look, I've outrun Imperial starships—not the local bulk cruisers, mind you. I'm talking about the big ones." He turned his eyes to Obi-Wan. "She's fast enough for you, old man. What's your cargo?"_

_"Just passengers," the Jedi answered. "The three of us, two droids, and…no questions asked."_

_The smuggler cocked an eyebrow. "What is it? Some kind of local trouble?"_

_"Let's just say we'd like to avoid any…_Imperial_ entanglements," the older man said pointedly._

_Han Solo sat back with a sly smile. "Well, that's the trick, isn't it? And it'll cost you something. Ten thousand credits, all in advance."_

_"Ten thousand?" Alesya sputtered. "We could almost buy our own ship for that!"_

_The smuggler snorted. "Yeah, and who's gonna fly it? You?"_

_"I'm not such a bad pilot myself," she retorted. She turned to Obi-Wan. "There's no reason—"_

_Obi-Wan cut her off. "We can pay you two thousand now and fifteen when we get to Alderaan."_

_"Seventeen thousand, huh?" Han sat there for a moment, pondering the offer. "All right, old man. You have yourself a ship. We're ready to leave as soon as you are. Meet us in Docking Bay Ninety-Four."_

_"Ninety-Four," Obi-Wan repeated._

_Han gestured for them to look behind them. "Looks like a few people are interested in your handiwork."_

_The three turned to see some Stormtroopers talking to the bartender and glancing at the floor in interest. The two Skywalkers looked at Obi-Wan, and then the three of them slipped away from Han Solo's booth._

* * *

_After selling the Skywalkers' speeder, the three humans and two droids met Chewbacca at the entrance to Docking Bay Ninety-Four. When they entered the docking bay, they all stopped to look at the ship._

_"What a piece of junk!" Alesya couldn't help exclaiming._

_Captain Solo came down the boarding ramp, having heard her comment. "She can make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. Chewie and I have made a lot of special modifications to her. But there's no time for small talk, so if you'll just get on board, we can get out of here."_

_The smuggler led them aboard and gave them a brief tour of the ship, noting basic areas such as where their bunks were. As he continued the tour, Luke stayed behind, sitting on his bunk. A few minutes later, he heard several strange pings and their pilot yelling, "Chewie, get us out of here!"_

_Luke stood up, walking toward the cockpit and meeting his wife and Obi-Wan along the way._

_"They're going to try to cut us off, Chewie," Han Solo was saying._

_The Wookiee roared in response._

_"I thought you said this thing was fast!" Alesya exclaimed._

_The smuggler pointed his finger at her. "Watch your mouth, or you'll find yourself floating home...Look, we'll be safe after we make the jump to hyperspace. Chewie and I know a few maneuvers. We'll lose them."_

_The ship began to rock, making everyone nervous. The pilot began talking, as if to reassure himself. "It'll take just a few moments to get the coordinates from the computer—then we'll be able to make the jump."_

_"But at the rate they're gaining—" Alesya began._

_"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, sister. Without the right calculations, we could fly through a star or find our way to a black hole, and that would end our trip real quick, wouldn't it?"_

_The ship began to rock, and everyone found something to hold on to._

_"We're losing our deflector shield," Han muttered. "Go strap in. We're about to make the jump to lightspeed."_

_They went and did as they were told, and before long, the ship was shuddering and they were in hyperspace. Now that their journey was no longer so rocky, Luke unstrapped himself, placing his lightsaber on the ground. He could feel his wife's eyes on him as he left the room to go to his bunk, but neither of them said anything._

* * *

_A few hours later, Alesya finally came to try to coax him to join her. He was sitting on his bed, staring down at his hands as if he were looking through them._

_"Luke," she said quietly. "You don't need to be alone right now."_

_"I know." He didn't look up._

_"Come on," she tugged on his arm, pulling him to his feet. "Ben—Obi-Wan—has some stuff to talk to you about."_

_They soon came to the main hold, and Alesya pulled Luke into a seat beside her._

_Obi-Wan looked at Luke for a few seconds before speaking. "There are two sides to the Force, Luke. The Dark Side and the Light Side."_

_Luke nodded his head once, not meeting Obi-Wan's eyes._

_"The Jedi follow the Light Side," the Jedi Master began. "When you are at peace, without anger, fear, and aggression—then you are using the Light Side. The Light Side is selfless, compassionate. It seeks to defend but not to harm."_

_The Corellian pirate chose this moment to enter the main hold, moving to look with Threepio at the dejarik game his copilot was playing with Artoo._

_"Here," Obi-Wan said, holding out for Luke his father's lightsaber._

_Luke didn't want to take it but did so after a few seconds of hesitation. Knowing what was wanted, he stood and ignited it. He listened to the hum, though it produced no excitement in him. He merely felt numb._

_"Consider the lightsaber an extension of your arm. Visualize it and the attacks which come toward you." A training remote rose from Obi-Wan's hand. "Reach out to the Force. It will tell you when the remote will attack."_

_Luke shut his eyes for a moment and then opened them. He readied his stance and blocked the first five blasts, missed the sixth and seventh, and then blocked the next four._

_Obi-Wan stood up to give him a piece of advice, but he suddenly staggered backward, collapsing in his chair._

_The younger man felt a brief headache and brought his hand up to his head, but what had just happened, he wasn't sure. "What is it?" he asked his mentor._

_The Jedi whispered, "Voices…" Louder, he said, "There was a disturbance in the Force—as if thousands—no, millions—of voices cried out and were suddenly silenced...Something terrible has happened." He rubbed his temples before trying to wave Luke off. "Continue practicing."_

_Nodding, Luke continued. Notably, his audience had expanded from two to three, as the smuggler was watching._

_Luke blocked a long string of about twenty blasts from the droid before one hit him in his leg and he hissed in pain. "E chu ta!" he cursed, receiving a reprimanding look from his wife and a bark of laughter from the smuggler._

_"Kid," the pirate—Han Solo—chuckled, "those ancient weapons and hokey religions are no match for a good blaster at your side."_

_"The Force is real," Luke said quietly. "You wouldn't understand."_

_"Kid, it's just a bunch of simple tricks and nonsense," the man insisted._

_"Luke," Obi-Wan called his attention with a slight smile, "try it with this helmet on and the blast shield down."_

_He put the helmet on, biting back his protests. Cautiously, he readied his lightsaber, stretching out his senses._

_The droid let off one, two, three bolts—and Luke blocked every one of them._

_Luke lifted up the blast shield, feeling strangely ecstatic._

_"See, you did it," Obi-Wan said warmly._

_"I call that luck," Han muttered, though he still looked a little impressed._

_"I did feel something," Luke noted, giving his wife a small smile._

_"That's great, Luke," she smiled back, glad to see his spirits lifted._

_"You are taking your first steps into a larger world," the Jedi Master noted kindly as he took the helmet and moved to put it up._

_"We're coming up on Alderaan," Han pointed out, gesturing at a flashing light. "Come on, Chewie."_

_The Wookiee growled, reluctantly leaving his dejarik game._

_Luke heard Threepio quietly telling Artoo, "With a big hairy beast like that, you need to try not to make him angry. I don't care how good you are at dejarik."_

_Alesya smiled at her husband. "We're finally going to get to help the Rebellion."_

_"And a princess, nonetheless," Luke grinned mischievously. He pulled her to him in a sudden hug. "Remember the picnic we had in that cave?"_

_Alesya chuckled. "When we found out you were allergic to skettos?"_

_Luke frowned. "Ah, no, I'd actually forgotten about that…I meant the other picnic."_

_"Where—" she was cut off as the ship began shaking. "What was that?"_

_"I don't know." Luke's frown deepened, and he pulled away. "Let's go see what's happening."_

_They walked cautiously toward the cockpit hand-in-hand, Obi-Wan following closely behind them._

_"What's going on?" Alesya queried, her eyes widening at the sight of asteroids._

_"We're in the right place," Han Solo answered tightly, "but there's no Alderaan."_

_"What do you mean?" Luke blinked. "How could it just be gone?"_

_"It was destroyed—" Obi-Wan said suddenly, "—by the Empire."_

_"No," Han shook his head. "Not even the whole starfleet could destroy an entire planet."_

_Suddenly, a ship was passing them._

_"Did he follow us?" Alesya asked in confusion._

_"No, it's a short-range fighter," Luke noted, watching the TIE fighter move away from them._

_"There aren't any Imperial bases around here," Han pointed out. "Where in space did it come from?"_

_"Look, there!" Alesya gestured at the viewscreen. "He's going toward that moon."_

_"That's not a moon," Obi-Wan said ominously. "…That's a spacestation."_

_"It's too big to be a spacestation!" Luke exclaimed. But he wasn't so sure._

_"I have a bad feeling about this," Alesya muttered, shifting uneasily._

_Han started reaching for some of the controls. "I think the old man's right. Chewie, let's reverse this baby."_

_A few seconds later, Luke gritted, "We're still moving _toward_ it."_

_"It's a tractor beam, kid. There's nothing I can do." The smuggler sounded frustrated. "Shut her down, Chewie."_

_Luke started to protest, but Han cut him off. "Look, we're not going down without a fight."_

_Obi-Wan put a hand on the pirate's shoulder. "You won't win, but there _are_ alternatives to fighting."_

* * *

**  
**_A little while later, they were poking up their heads out of Han Solo's smuggling compartments, the Imperial search team having just left the ship._

_"It's really fortunate you had these compartments," Alesya noted._

_The space pirate scowled. "Yeah, well, it's _un_fortunate that I had to be smuggling myself in them. I don't know how we're going to get out of here—even if we did take off, we'd never be able to get past that tractor beam."_

_"I can take care of that," Obi-Wan replied smoothly._

_"Somehow I knew you were gonna say that," the smuggler muttered._


	5. Rescue

_For the two crewmen who came in to scan the _Millennium Falcon_, they were just a blur of color before a world of darkness. After looking down at the two unconscious men, Han grinned at his companions. "Not so bad, if I do say so myself."_

_"Indeed," Obi-Wan said._

_Han could've sworn he saw the old man roll his eyes, but he decided to ignore it rather than call attention to it. Nodding at Luke and Alesya, the smuggler stated, "Now, we get us some armor."_

_He approached the ramp so that he could yell down to the Stormtroopers outside the ship. "Hey down there!" he called out. "Could you give us a hand with this?"_

_As expected, the four Stormtroopers entered the ship, only to be taken down by Han's blaster and Chewie's bowcaster._

_The smuggler grinned at Alesya. "I hope you don't mind seeing a few nearly-naked Stomtroopers."_

_Luke scowled at him._

_"Take it easy, kid," Han said, seeing his expression. "I'm on your side."_

_After Han, Luke, and Alesya had all donned Stormtrooper armor, Han said, "All right. Here's the plan."_

* * *

_Like the two members of the scanning crew, the gantry officer never knew what was coming. He and his aide were both quickly taken care of by Han and Chewie, who were followed into the room by the rest of their companions. As Luke, Han, and Alesya removed their helmets, the droids moved past them._

_"You know, between his howling and your blasting everything in sight, I'm surprised the whole station doesn't know we're here," Luke told Han, annoyed._

_"Bring them on!" Han retorted. "I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around."_

_"Master Luke," Threepio said timidly, "we've found the computer outlet."_

_"All right," the young man acknowledged. "Artoo, plug in."_

_The astrodroid did so, quickly pulling up the location of the tractor beam's power terminals._

_"A power loss at one of the seven terminals will temporarily disable the tractor beam," Threepio observed._

_For a few moments, Obi-Wan studied the information Artoo had pulled up. "I will do this alone," he remarked at last._

_"But—" Luke tried to protest._

_"Stay here," the Jedi said gently. "Watch the droids—they hold vital information, not just for the Rebellion, but also for the galaxy. Do not worry. I won't be long."_

_"All right," the younger man nodded reluctantly, shifting the Stormtrooper helmet in his hand._

_"The Force will be with you, Luke," Obi-Wan smiled._

_"And you," Luke whispered, watching him go._

_"It'll be okay," Alesya said, putting her arm around her husband's lower back. "There will be plenty of time to help the Rebellion later."_

_Chewbacca barked something, and Han shook his head. "No kidding, Chewie. Kid, where did you dig up that old fossil?"_

_Luke's eyes narrowed. "He is a great man."_

_Han opened his mouth to retort, but he was prevented from doing so by Artoo's insistent whistling._

_"What's wrong?" Alesya asked, moving toward the droids._

_"I'm not sure, Mistress Alesya," Threepio responded. "He said he 'found her' and keeps repeating 'she's here.'"_

_"Who?" Luke asked, stepping forward._

_The astromech droid whistled._

_"The princess?" the young man gaped._

_The smuggler perked up. "Princess? What's happening?"_

_"I'm afraid she's in the detention block," Threepio said sadly, "scheduled to be terminated."_

_"We need to help her," Alesya said quickly. She was a little jealous of her husband's interest in the woman, but deep down she knew that was all it was—interest, not attraction. Besides, even if she _were_ a little jealous, that was no reason not to help someone in need._

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Han protested. "The old man told us to stay here." He fell into a chair and crossed his arms stubbornly._

_"But he didn't know she was here!" Luke pointed out. "We have to help her—they're gonna _kill_ her."_

_"I ain't stickin' my neck out for her," the pirate declared._

_Luke looked at his wife, wondering if they should just go on without him. But no—the more help, the better._

_Alesya's thoughts seemed to parallel his, and she moved toward the smuggler. "She's rich."_

_"Rich?" Han didn't even try to hide his interest._

_"Yes. Wealthy, powerful—she could reward you handsomely."_

_Han's eyes gleamed, and Chewbacca growled._

_Luke caught on to her game. "Imagine what you will get if you rescue her. Your reward will be—"_

_"What?" the smuggler asked eagerly._

_The younger man hesitated. "Well, it will be more money than you can imagine."_

_Han snorted. "I dunno—I can imagine quite a bit."_

_"You'll get it," Alesya insisted._

_"I'd better," the pirate pointed at her._

_"You will!" Luke chimed._

_"You two had better be right about this," Han muttered. He gave Chewie a look, and the Wookiee nodded. "All right," he grunted, looking at the two Skywalkers. "What's the plan?"_

* * *

**  
**_A few minutes later, Han, Alesya, and Luke had their helmets back on and were escorting Chewie as if he were their prisoner. They managed to dissuade someone from taking the same elevator as them, but when the doors of the turbolift opened to reveal the detention block, things got a little trickier._

_An officer approached them grimly. "Where are you taking this…thing?" He looked disgusted._

_Chewbacca growled in offense, and Luke replied in an emotionless voice, "Prisoner transfer from Cell Block 1138."_

_"A transfer? I wasn't notified." The man looked suspicious. "I'll have to clear it."_

_Suddenly, Chewbacca was flailing his arms, and the three faux Stormtroopers were shooting at the Imperials in the room. After the Imperials and the security cameras were both down, Han ran over to the communications unit. "Looks like your princess is in cell 2187," he noted after fiddling with the unit for a few seconds._

_Luke nodded, and he and his wife began trotting down the corridor, leaving Han and Chewie to deal with the communications system._

_ "This is it!" Alesya informed her husband, stopping in front of a door and blasting it open._

_The princess was sitting up, looking dazed, as if she had just awoken from a nap._

_Alesya removed her Stormtrooper helmet. "I'm Alesya Skywalker, and this is my husband Luke. We're here to rescue you."_

_"We have your R2 unit," Luke noted quickly. "We're here with Obi-Wan Kenobi."_

_"Obi-Wan!" the woman repeated in surprise. "Where is he?"_

_"He's disabling the tractor beam so we can leave," Luke answered. He gestured for her to follow him. "Let's go."_

_They left the cell, only to find Chewie and Han jogging down the hallway._

_"We can't get out the way we came in," Han informed them. He swallowed as a blaster bolt whizzed by him. He and Chewie were shooting at their attackers, but it seemed like the Imperials were just getting closer. Soon, they would be overwhelmed._

_The princess shook her head in disgust. "Looks like you managed to cut off our escape route."_

_"Perhaps you'd like it back in your cell, your Worship," the smuggler bit out._

_Alesya and Luke looked at each other. "Threepio," they breathed._

_Luke pulled out his comlink, handing his blaster to the princess, who immediately began shooting at Stormtroopers. "Threepio, we're cut off! Threepio?"_

_The droid answered, "Yes, sir?"_

_"We're in the detention area. Are there any other ways out?"_

_"Everyone on the ship is alerted to your presence, sir," Threepio informed him. "You can only leave by the main entrance. Other information on your area is restricted."_

_"Blast!" Luke cursed. "There's no other way out," he informed his companions._

_"Oh, for crying—" Leia bit her lip. Then she pointed Luke's blaster at a grate by Han and incinerated it._

_Han jumped aside. "What in space are you doing?"_

_"Saving our hides," she informed him matter-of-factly. "Now, jump in." And then she disappeared into the garbage chute._

_Alesya and Luke exchanged a look before shrugging and striding toward the grate, all the while dodging fire._

_"Such a nice girl," the smuggler said sarcastically. "Either I'm gonna kill her, or I'm beginning to like her."_

_Luke just shook his head knowingly and grinned before dropping down into the chute, his wife following closely behind._

_It took just a second—and almost a fatality—to determine that the trash compactor was magnetically sealed and their blasters were of no use._

_When Han finally came down after his copilot, he immediately began complaining. "What a great smell we've discovered."_

_"Well, it's magnetically sealed," Alesya told him, "so our problems are a lot greater than garbage right now."_

_The pirate glared at the princess. "Look where you've brought us, Your Highness. Dying in a trash heap wasn't exactly the way I wanted to go."_

_Leia sighed. "Well, it could be worse."_

_At that moment, a strange animalistic sound echoed throughout the room._

_"It's worse," Han deadpanned._

_Luke frowned. "I think there's something alive in here."_

_"It's just your imagination, kid," the smuggler insisted._

_The younger man jumped. "Something just brushed past my leg."_

_And then he was pulled under the water._

_"Luke!" Alesya shouted, frantically slogging through the refuse-filled water to try to find her husband._

_Han, who was closer by than Leia, began trying to help her. "Kid!"_

_Suddenly, Luke surfaced between his wife and Han with a tentacle wrapped around him. "Shoot it! Blast it!" he exclaimed, struggling to breathe._

_Alesya and Han began to fire downward, but Luke was pulled back under the water._

_"Luke!" Alesya cried out again. She bent over and moved her hands through the muck, trying to find him._

_Several seconds passed, and she exchanged a worried look with the others in the room. Having grown up on Tatooine, she and Luke had never been swimming. He wasn't used to holding his breath for long periods of time._

_Then the walls of the garbage compactor shuddered, moving forward a few inches and then stopping. Chewbacca began howling, and then suddenly Luke was back above the water, sputtering and gasping for air._

_"Luke!" Alesya rushed toward him, helping him up out of the water and giving him a relief-filled hug._

_"What happened?" Han inquired._

_"I'm not sure," Luke answered in a muffled voice as he gave his wife a comforting squeeze. "It just let go of me."_

_"I've got a bad feeling about this," Leia said, shifting in the muck._

_Chewie moaned in response, banging on the doorway to the trash compactor with his furry arms._

_And then the walls started moving._


	6. Battle

_"Threepio! Come in, Threepio!" Luke kept frantically yelling into his comlink. "Where could he be?"_

_He was getting wedged in between some garbage. His armor was helping, but he knew he would be flattened soon if he couldn't contact the droids. Still, if he could contact the droids right before he was crushed, there was a chance he could at least save the others. That was why he was worrying more about getting their attention than saving himself. He wouldn't let Alesya die. He wouldn't._

_Han was trying to help Leia and Alesya get to the top of the moving pile of trash, while Leia and Alesya were grabbing long pieces of garbage, trying to brace the walls and at least delay their demise._

_"One thing's for sure," the smuggler shouted out, "we're all going to be a lot thinner!"_

_"You need to get on top, too," Alesya told Han as she scrambled to maintain her position on top of some metal._

_"I'm trying," he grunted, "but this armor isn't exactly flexible."_

_"Threepio! Threepio!" Luke called into the comlink._

_And then Threepio's voice spoke. "Are you there, sir?"_

_"Threepio!" the young man cried out ecstatically. "Threepio, shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level! Do you copy? Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!" He winced as some metal started to make its way through one of the joints in the armor. As the walls kept moving, he began to fear that it would take too long, and he lifted his free hand in the air to meet his wife's fingers._

_Their hands clenched together, Luke closed his eyes, and then the walls stopped._

_In joy, they all started shouting. Leia and Han hugged, and Alesya moved over to Luke to plant a relief-filled kiss on his forehead._

_"We're all right, Threepio!" Luke exclaimed. "Open the pressure maintenance hatch on…where are we?"_

_Han began reading the number out loud._

* * *

_"I _never_ want to see the inside of a trash compactor again," Alesya muttered to her husband. Having been freed from the garbage masher by Threepio and Artoo, they were now walking down a corridor behind Chewbacca, trying to ignore the quarreling smuggler and princess moving several yards ahead of them._

_Luke gave her an amused grin. "I know. We're lucky to be alive."_

_She nodded. "Those two droids you picked out turned out to be pretty handy."_

_"And I turned out to be pretty unlucky," Luke returned. "What are the odds of there being a monster in there?"_

_"Not as great as the odds of your finding it."_

_Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh, not this again."_

_"You know it's true, Luke," Alesya insisted. "If there's trouble to be found, you're the one to find it…And somehow miraculously escape from it, though never completely unscathed. What's your wound _this_ time?"_

_"I do not have—" he started to protest, but then he stopped. Looking at the ground, he answered in a small voice, "I think my neck may be bruised. And I might be bleeding a little due to some metal."_

_"Well, that's better than that krayt dragon encounter."_

_"That was not an 'encounter'—it was a misfortune," he returned, knowing even as he said it that it was a lame rejoinder._

_"Just be glad that garbage creature didn't crush your windpipe."_

_Luke muttered something unintelligible, and Alesya just shook her head in amusement._

* * *

**  
**_A few corridors later, they were standing in front of a window, looking down on the _Millennium Falcon_._

_"There sits the hunk of junk," Luke observed._

_"That's my ship you're talking about," Han protested, sticking a finger in the younger man's face._

_"I can't say I disagree with him," the princess noted. "I'm surprised you're even able to get that thing off the ground."_

_The smuggler gave her a dirty look._

_Hiding a smile, Alesya took the comlink from her husband. "Threepio?"_

_"Yes, Mistress Alesya?" the mechanical voice returned over the comlink._

_"Where are you?"_

_"We're in the main hangar across from the ship," the droid told her._

_"We're above you," she told him. "But we'll be down there soon. Don't move."_

_"Yes, Mistress Alesya."_

_Alesya gestured for everyone to follow her, and they began moving down the hallway. They rounded a corner, only to stop in their tracks at the sign of about twenty Stormtroopers._

_The Stormtroopers also paused in surprise before one recovered and said, "That's them!"_

_Han brought his blaster up and started charging them, forcing them to beat a hasty retreat as he and Chewbacca went howling after them._

_"Stop!" Luke commanded. "Come back here!"_

_The remaining group just barely heard Han's shout of "Return to the ship!" before he disappeared._

_"You can't say he lacks courage," Leia commented as she looked down the hallway where he had gone._

_"All the blazin' courage in the galaxy won't help us if he gets himself killed," Luke bit out, furious._

_Alesya touched her husband's arm gently. "He'll be all right. Come on, let's go."_

* * *

**  
**_Dodging laser blasts and sending off several of their own, they soon found themselves at a retracted bridge—off which Luke would have fallen had his wife not pulled him back just in time._

_"Thanks," he said breathlessly, staring down at the shaft below them. "I think we took a wrong turn."_

_The sound of laser fire reminded them of their pursuers, and Alesya and Luke began firing their blasters as Leia hit the switch to close the door._

_"The door doesn't have a lock!" the princess warned them._

_Luke pointed his blaster and shot the controls. "That should hold it for a bit."_

_"We need to find the control that extends the bridge," Leia said._

_"I think Luke just blasted it," Alesya informed the princess as she glared at her husband._

_Luke gave her a sheepish look. Then he noted a couple of Stormtroopers across the way, and he brought up his blaster and shot them._

_"Nice," his wife said appreciatively. Some very ominous sounds started coming from the door beside them. Worried, she noted, "They're going to get in here any minute, Luke."_

_Her husband frowned and then started fiddling with his utility belt._

_Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Alesya began messing with her own Stormtrooper belt, finding a cable and grappler hook. "We only have two," she noted._

_"I'll get her," Luke said, with a slight gesture of his head. "Hold this," he instructed, handing Leia his weapon. Alesya also gave her weapon to Leia._

_The two Skywalkers began working with their cables, managing to get the grappler hooks to hold the cable around some pipes._

_"Ladies first," Luke told Alesya with a smile._

_She rolled her eyes and swung across to the other side._

_Leia moved to Luke's side, and he put his arm around her, tightly holding on to his cable with his other hand._

_One more swing and few dead Stormtroopers later, they were all running down a corridor and finally rejoining with Han and Chewbacca._

_"What took you so long?" the smuggler inquired, pulling his eyes away from his ship._

_"Oh, you know, we stopped to catch up with a few old friends," Alesya responded._

_"Is the ship all right?" Luke queried, feeling anxious._

_"She seems okay, but I don't know if we can get to her." Han gestured. "There are Stormtroopers everywhere. You better pray the old man disabled that tractor beam."_

_"Yes, you had indeed better pray he did," an amused voice came from behind them._

_They swiveled around, and Luke exclaimed, "Obi-Wan!"_

_The old man put a finger in front of his lips to remind Luke not to be too loud. Fortunately, no one heard the small outburst._

_Luke lowered his voice. "I had a bad feeling—like you were going to do something drastic."_

_Obi-Wan gave him a small smile. "The tides of the Force have shifted. I, too, feel as if something failed to happen which should have happened. But no matter. Now is the time for a distraction."_

_"What did you have in mind?" Han asked._

_He suddenly got his answer as a pile of boxes across the hangar toppled with a giant clang and all the Stormtroopers patrolling around the _Falcon_ ran toward the sound of the falling crates._

_The smuggler shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know how you did that, old man, but let's go!"_

_They all began running toward the _Falcon_ and were soon joined by the droids. Without incident, they made it up the _Falcon_'s ramp and hurried into the cockpit, where Han immediately began working his magic on the ship. They could hear small pings as the Stormtroopers in the hangar began shooting harmlessly at the freighter._

_"Come on, come on," Han coaxed his ship, lifting her off the ground._

_Chewbacca growled nervously, his hands racing across the controls._

_ "All right, hit it!" Han exclaimed seconds later, and the ship sped out of the hangar. "Looks like you got that tractor beam after all."_

_"Yes, but now they will send all their ready fighters to destroy us," Obi-Wan observed. "You need to make the jump to hyperspace as soon as you can. We won't last long against the forces that monstrosity can bring to bear on us."_

_"You must be a hit at parties," Han muttered to himself sarcastically. "Chewie, you know what to do." The Wookiee growled and continued messing with the freighter's controls. "I have access to a gun in here," the smuggler noted, "but there are two turrets that could use gunners."_

_"Obi-Wan?" Luke looked at his mentor questioningly._

_"Let the young eyes and hands man the guns," the Jedi said with a small smile. "I'm getting too old for this kind of thing."_

_The two nodded and disappeared._

* * *

**  
**_Obi-Wan wasn't kidding when he said they would send all of their ready fighters. The space in front of them quickly became like a swarm of bees as TIE fighter after TIE fighter joined the fray. No sooner was one down than another came to take its place._

_"We're not going to last much longer," Luke observed as he shot at a TIE. The ship was constantly rocking due to a barrage of lasers, even despite Chewbacca's constant evasive maneuvers._

_"You're telling me, kid," Han's voice said over the headset. "Chewie's trying his best to get us out of this spacestation's gravity well. If we can hang on just a little longer, we may make it."_

_"Luke," came Obi-Wan's voice. "Trust in your feelings—use the Force. Let it guide the gun."_

_"All right." Luke furrowed his brow. Tatooine would freeze over before he would go down without a fight._

_He searched his feelings, reaching out for he knew not what—the Force?_

_Soon, he was swiveling the gun around left and right, taking down one TIE fighter after another. His consciousness of his surroundings dissolved, and he concentrated on hitting the zigzagging dogfighters. He tried to disable the fighters when he could—he did not want to kill people. The desire for death was of the Dark Side—he knew that. But unlike when he'd killed the Imperials on Tatooine and when he'd killed the man in the cantina, now there was almost no choice but to kill. Here, it was his last resort. _

_Han whistled. "Great shooting, kid. Keep that up, and we might get out of here soon."_

_The smuggler and Alesya weren't doing so bad themselves with downing enemy fighters, and before long they were able to jump into hyperspace._

_Han whooped over the speaker, and Chewbacca gave a victorious growl._

_Alesya and Luke left their guns to rejoin the others in the cockpit._

_"We're going to have some major repairs to do after this, but at least we're alive," Han said._

_"Some Alliance technicians will help you out when we get to Yavin IV," Leia told him._

_The smuggler shrugged. "Just give us some parts, and Chewie and I can fix it ourselves."_

_"It's a good thing your shields held," Alesya noted. "You've certainly souped up this freighter."_

_"Well, no one ever knows what's coming," Han said proudly. "It wasn't a bad bit of rescuing, if I do say so myself."_

_"You were able to use the Force," Obi-Wan said quietly to Luke._

_"I know," he replied._

_"But beware Luke," the Jedi Master said seriously, "not to be too one-minded when you use it. You need to keep your mind open to everything." He smiled. "But it was not bad for a beginner. And I did notice you try to save as many pilots as you could." His face darkened once again. "Taking lives has always been an ugly part of war."_

_"At least the information in the R2 unit is intact," Leia told Han._

_"Why is it so important anyway? What information does he have?" the smuggler asked._

_"The technical readouts to that spacestation. I just hope they find a weakness when it's analyzed. The battle has just begun." Leia shook her head somberly._

_"Well, it's over for me, sister," Han told her. "I'm not here for your revolution—I want my money."_

_"And rest assured, you will get it," Leia snapped. She looked at the others. "This man is quite a mercenary. I wonder if he really cares about anything…or anybody." She left the cockpit, her anger written all over her face._

_Han rolled his eyes and then focused on the controls in front of him._

_Luke inclined his head, giving a nonverbal suggestion to his wife that they follow Leia. She went ahead of him, and they both left the cockpit._

_Leia was seated in the lounge area, her face in her hands._

_"Are you all right?" Alesya asked gently._

_After a few seconds, Leia looked up, tears shining in her eyes. "I'm sorry…The Death Star is just more proof of the Empire's evil…Part of me kept hoping that the Empire wouldn't really use its latest weapon—that the Emperor wanted to rule by fear and wouldn't need to. And then Alderaan was gone…And I kept thinking, what if I had been able to think of a planet that was less remote than Dantooine and told it to Tarkin? Would Alderaan have survived? Could I have done anything to save Alderaan?"_

_Alesya went and sat beside her, rubbing her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, Leia. You couldn't have helped it."_

_"My father…" the princess said quietly, but she couldn't finish her sentence._

_"The Empire killed my aunt and uncle," Luke said, his voice nearly breaking. "It's made up of a bunch of brutes—there's no doubt about that. But that's why we're fighting it. We'll take down that planet-destroyer somehow, Leia. I promise you that."_

_The princess managed a small smile. "Thank you, Luke. I hope you're right."_


	7. Preparation

_After landing on Yavin and being greeted by a small welcome committee, they had a little downtime, as Artoo had been ushered away for the Death Star data to be analyzed._

_They were all shown to separate rooms, save for Han and Chewie, who went straight to work on repairing the _Falcon_._

_Luke collapsed on the bed in his and Alesya's room. "This saving the galaxy stuff is hard work," he said, his eyes closed. A small grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He didn't _truly_ feel amused, but it was either humor or tears, and he'd had enough of tears for a while._

_Alesya sat down on the bed and gave him a light punch in the arm. "For once, you're not exaggerating. A planet-destroying spacestation is a pretty big deal."_

_He sat up, looking earnest. "You know, I talked to Leia. She thinks she can convince them to let us pilot during the attack on the Death Star."_

_"Really?" Alesya looked surprised. "That quickly?"_

_Luke shrugged. Somberly, he said, "They need a lot of pilots for this, and she knows what we're up against better than anyone. It's even more of a high-risk mission than usual, and a couple of people are probably backing out. Even if all their fighter pilots are sent, they can always use more, I'm sure."_

_"Well, then this is our chance to shine." Alesya smiled, trying to push the mood back to a lighter one._

_"Do you think your parents are here?" he asked._

_She shook her head. "I doubt it. The Rebels are scattered all across the galaxy, and the odds of them being here aren't that great. Besides, they always preferred being part of the ground forces. My dad's in demolitions, remember?"_

_"Hmm." Luke nodded. "And your mother's stealthy. Got it."_

_Alesya grabbed a pillow and hit him over the head with it._

_"Hey!" he exclaimed. "What was that for?"_

_"Oh, you know."_

_"Oh, no, I don't."_

_"Oh, yes, you do."_

_He snatched the pillow from her. "Fine. Well, you know why you deserve _this_!"_

_And then there was a thud and a muffled laugh._

* * *

_Before they could enter the briefing room, the two Skywalkers were stopped by Obi-Wan._

_"I know you have volunteered to help in the offensive," Obi-Wan said. He had considered joining the attack himself but decided against it; he had not been exaggerating when he had said he'd gotten too old for this kind of thing. He just didn't have the fight left in him. "I support your decision, but I request that afterward you go with me to Dagobah to continue your training, Luke."_

_Luke nodded. "I will."_

_Alesya looked thoughtful but didn't say anything._

_Obi-Wan gestured them forward. "After you."_

* * *

_Han and Chewie actually came to the briefing, though they stood in the back. Han had told Luke that they were coming not because they cared about the revolution but because of sheer curiosity; however, Luke suspected the smuggler really did care, somewhere deep down inside._

_When everyone was gathered, General Dodonna quickly explained the basics of the situation, and when he had finished, the skepticism in the room was practically tangible. Almost everyone was wondering: how could a snubfighter make such a precise hit as was called for?_

_The young man next to Luke actually voiced what everyone was feeling: "That's an impossible shot to make, even for a computer."_

_"It's not impossible," Luke insisted. He gestured to Alesya. "We used to bull's-eye womp rats in our T-16s back home. They're not much bigger than two meters."_

_The black-haired youth still looked doubtful. "But were you dodging enemy fire at the same time?"_

_"It's the only chance we have," Dodonna said solemnly. "We'll meet at the rendezvous point. Hopefully, the Death Star will remain at Alderaan like Intel has informed us it will. Otherwise, we'll have to pursue it. And we will, even if we have to follow it across the galaxy. Our attack will begin almost immediately for the sake of surprise, so make sure you reach the rendezvous on time…And may the Force be with you."_

_Everyone rose to leave, and Luke walked up to the general, who, though he tried to hide it, looked a little troubled. "We won't let you down…We can't afford to."_

_Dodonna gave sad smile. "No, we can't."_

* * *

**  
**_Alesya and Luke suited up and walked across the hangar bay toward their ships. Luke spied Han loading some boxes onto a speeder, and he trotted over to him. His wife stopped and watched him go. She knew her husband was angry, and it wouldn't be pretty._

_"So, now you have your reward, and you're leaving?" Luke's tone was almost accusatory._

_Han wasn't fazed. "That's right, kid. We have some debts to pay off. And what, even if I didn't, do you think I would be foolish enough to join this attack? You know, the two of you are great in a fight—why don't you both come with us? We could use your help."_

_The younger man was furious this time. "Did you even pay attention during the briefing? Look around you—you know what they're up against. Do you really want to sit back and let more Alderaans happen? You're a great pilot, and they could use you, but you're just turning your back on them."_

_"Kid, what good's a reward if you ain't around to use it? Besides, attacking that battlestation ain't my idea of courage. It's more like suicide."_

_Luke shook his head, looking disgusted. "Take care of yourself, Han. I guess that's what you're best at." He turned and started walking away._

_Han hesitated briefly before calling out, "Hey, Luke."_

_Luke turned to look at him._

_"May the Force be with you."_

_Knowing the words were sincere, Luke lifted his hand in a wave. "And you, too, Han." Then he moved to rejoin his wife._

_After reaching their X-wing fighters, they found Leia waiting for them._

_ "What's wrong?" the princess asked, looking at Luke with concern._

_"He met up with Han," Alesya explained._

_"I was just hoping he'd change his mind," Luke said sadly, looking downtrodden._

_"He has to follow his own path," Leia told him. "No one can choose it for him." She looked at Alesya and smiled. "Good luck to the both of you."_

_"Thanks," Alesya said, watching the other young woman leave. Not a fighter pilot like the two Skywalkers, Leia Organa was going to meet at the rendezvous point in one of the larger ships, where her command skills could be of some use._

_"Luke! Alesya!" a voice called for them._

_  
Turning, they saw a dark-haired man with a mustache coming toward them. "Long time no see!"_

_"Biggs!" both Luke and Alesya exclaimed._

_"How did you two get here?" He looked at their outfits with raised eyebrows. "Are you going out with us?"_

_Luke grinned. "You bet we're gonna be up there. Man, have we got some stories to tell you, Biggs—"_

_A man from behind them interrupted, "Are you Luke and Alesya Skywalker? Have you both been checked out on the Incom T-65?"_

_"Sir," Biggs said, "these are two of the best Outer Rim pilots you'll ever find."_

_Red Leader smiled. "Well, if Biggs vouches for you, I think you'll do all right."_

_"Thank you, sir," Alesya said warmly. "We will try."_

_The man looked at Luke. "If you're anything like your father was, well, you won't do half bad." He nodded a goodbye before hurrying away to his own ship._

_Luke watched him go in interest. That man had known his father?_

_Biggs smiled at Luke. "I need to go, but I promise I'll listen to those stories of yours one of these days, all right?"_

_"We'll hold you to that," Alesya told him._

_"I told you we'd all make it here one day, Biggs," Luke said as Biggs began walking away._

_"That you did, Luke. And it will be just like old times—the three of us will be like shooting stars blazing our way through the galaxy." Biggs gave a backwards wave and a chuckle._

_Luke laughed as he watched his friend leave. Suddenly, he felt a sense of foreboding, and a chill went down his spine._

_Alesya looked at Luke somberly. "Well…"_

_He embraced her suddenly. Burying his face in her hair, he whispered, "Good luck, Alesya Skywalker."_

_She smiled to herself. "And good luck to you, my rising Jedi. Just don't show me up too bad."_

_He pulled back and grinned at her. "Loser cooks breakfast?"_

_Alesya rolled her eyes. "What is it with you and food? I swear—the way to your heart _is_ through your stomach."_

_"Well, in that case, I'm surprised you caught me." Luke's eyes twinkled._

_She punched him in the arm. "Don't be such a bantha-brain. Come on, we need to prep our ships. We don't want to be late to the rendezvous, or we'll miss all the action."_

_"Oh, like that could happen when I'm involved!" Luke snorted. He placed his hand on the ladder to go up his ship but hesitated. He really _was_ worried._

_Evidently, his wife was, too. "Luke?" she said quietly._

_"Yeah?"_

_"Be careful. No crazy stunts, all right?"_

_He smiled. "I won't do anything crazy if you won't."_

_"Can I get that in writing?" she returned._

_Her husband shrugged. "I'll try to be careful, love." He rested a finger on her cheek, sliding it gently down to lift up her chin. "I'll return, I promise."_

_"And so will I," she whispered._

_He pulled her close to him and pressed his lips to hers. She was his love, his life. He didn't know what he would ever do without her._

_When they reluctantly pulled away, Luke whispered, "May the Force be with you, my angel."_

_"You, too, Luke," she replied, turning from him to go to her X-wing._

_He watched her for a few moments. Stars, how he needed her._


	8. Entrenched

_They met at the rendezvous point, which was a short hyperspace jump away from where Intelligence had claimed it would be. When all the important players were gathered, the command ship (which Leia, Obi-Wan, and Threepio were all aboard) sent an encrypted message with slightly modified coordinates. The Death Star had moved a little, but it was still nearby. The cue was given to make the jump, and Luke's fingers flew over his ship's controls with eager anticipation._

_Once there, all the squadrons reported in to their leaders. Luke smiled when he heard his wife—Red Eleven—check in. He chimed in after her, "Red Five standing by."_

_When everyone in Red Squadron had finished reporting in, Red Leader ordered, "All right, wings, let's lock our S-foils into attack position. Be prepared to draw fire away from Gold Squadron."_

_And soon they were speeding in formation toward the Death Star behind the Y-wings of Gold Squadron._

_"This thing's krethin' huge," Wedge exclaimed into his headset as they approached._

_"Come on, Red Two, cut the chatter and watch your language," Red Leader ordered. "Red Squadron, follow my lead. Let's try to draw their fire."_

_Red Squadron dove toward the Death Star, guns blazing._

_Luke grinned as he saw two turbolasers explode. "Good shooting, Red Eleven."_

_"Looks like you may be scrambling me some eggs tomorrow," Alesya told him._

_"We'll see about that!" he retorted, breaking out of formation to shoot a few blasts of his own._

_ "There's some really heavy fire ahead, boss," Wedge warned Red Leader._

_"Thanks, I see it. Stay low, wings," Red Leader told them._

_The X-wings continued on their course toward the Death Star._

_Luke went into a sudden nosedive. "This is Red Five; I'm going in!" he informed them._

_"Blast you, Skywalker!" his wife growled, annoyed at his impetuousness. She swooped down after him, closely following._

_He was strafing the surface of the Death Star when a sudden feeling struck him, and he pulled up._

_An explosion at the Death Star's surface soon produced a massive fireball that Luke's wife was fast approaching._

_Biggs, who had a better view than Luke, yelled in his headset, "Alesya, pull up!"_

_But Alesya's ship wasn't able to pull out in time, and she disappeared into the mass of fire._

_"Alesya!" Luke cried out._

* * *

**  
**_Alesya miraculously emerged from the fireball. "I'm all right," she quickly assured them. "Just a little singed."_

_"Let's fly a little higher this time," a shaken Luke suggested, though the words were really more to himself than anyone else._

_Artoo beeped an affirmative in a voice that sounded almost comforting, though Luke was not to be comforted._

_Red Squadron continued their strafing run, trying all the while to avoid the Death Star's turbolasers. They were doing such a good job at it that Luke noted, "It probably won't be long before they send some one-man fighters after us."_

_"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Alesya sighed._

_Sure enough, moments later, the Alliance command ship was warning them of the distant approach of TIE fighters. Fortunately, they were far enough away that there was still some breathing room left._

_"Let me know when you're going in, Luke," Red Leader noted with a bit of a stern tone._

_"I'm going in now, sir," Luke replied, though he gave his wife a few seconds to prepare herself before he began his attack dive._

_"Watch out, Red Five. There's a lot of fire coming from the right side of that deflection tower," Red Leader warned._

_"Yes, sir," the younger man acknowledged before starting his dive. His wife followed, though she didn't do so as closely as she had done before, having learned from her recent mistake._

_Their lasers hit the Death Star's surface and soon concentrated on a tower. Luke whooped as the tower exploded, and he and his wife pulled up, flak pinging against their fighters. Turbolasers followed them, and Alesya got hit by one of them._

_"Alesya, you all right?" Luke asked in a worried tone._

_"Just skimmed me," she answered._

_A control officer from the Alliance command ship spoke. "Enemy fighters coming your way."_

_"My scope's negative," Alesya pointed out._

_"I don't see anything either," Luke noted._

_"Doesn't mean anything with all this jamming," Red Leader told them. "Keep up the visual scanning. They'll be on top of you before you know it."_

_A TIE was suddenly on Biggs' tail, and he pulled away from the group._

_"You have one on you, Biggs," Red Leader said warningly._

_"I can't see him!" Biggs said, sounding panicked. "Where is he?"_

_The TIE sent off several shots, most of which narrowly missed but one of which skimmed the cockpit's surface._

_"I can't shake him!"the young man pointed out._

_"I'll help you, Biggs!" Alesya promised, pulling away to chase after the TIE fighter._

_Biggs made a sudden dive, and Alesya's lasers began firing repetitively. The TIE exploded, and Alesya exclaimed, "I got him!"_

_"Good job," Luke congratulated his wife._

_Luke pulled away to shoot at a nearby TIE fighter, destroying him but gaining a tail of his own._

_"Watch out, Luke," Biggs warned._

_Luke did a barrel roll to the left, suddenly stopping and doing one to the right. A few more maneuvers later, and he was behind his former tail, shooting it down in a blaze of glory._

_Alesya moved to pursue a fighter, but Luke suddenly gained another tail. This one was more skillful and able to match Luke's movements._

_"I can't shake this one!" Luke said into his headset._

_"I'll come help," Wedge assured him._

_But Luke was becoming frantic as one of the TIE's lasers hit the right side of his ship, causing a small fire which Artoo immediately put out. "Blast it, Wedge!" he hissed. "Where are you?"_

_"Coming!" Wedge announced, loosing a volley of shots at the TIE._

_"Thanks, Wedge," Luke said, feeling relieved._

_"This is Gold Leader. Red Leader, we are beginning our attack run. Red Leader, do you copy?"_

_"I copy," Red Leader responded. "Move into position."_

_Three Y-wings suddenly dove into the Death Star trench, but they were battered first by turbolasers and then approaching TIE fighters; Gold Two was shot down and then Gold Leader was gone. Then Gold Five, too, fell to his death. The Imperials were sparing no fighters, and this battle was turning into a slaughter._

_"Red Squadron," Red Leader said grimly, "rendezvous at mark six point one."_

_As Red Squadron gathered together, Dodonna spoke. "Red Leader, this is Base One. Keep half your group out of range for the next run."_

_"Copy, Base One," Red Leader responded. "Red Five, take Reds Two and Three. Hold up here and wait for my signal to start your run."_

_"Yes, sir," Luke replied. But he was nervous—Alesya wouldn't be with him, which was probably intentional on Red Leader's part. Since they were spouses, they were lucky enough to have been allowed to be on the same squadron in the first place._

_Nervously, he watched as Red Leader led Reds Ten through Twelve down the trench._

_Red Twelve was downed by a skilled pilot in a unique-looking TIE fighter. And then Red Ten was also destroyed. Luke watched their deaths with a sickening feeling._

_Shortly afterward, Red Leader was letting loose two proton torpedoes toward the exhaust port and then pulling away with Red Eleven._

_"It's a hit!" Alesya said in excitement._

_A second later, Red Leader responded, "Negative, negative. It just impacted on the surface; it didn't go in."_

_"Red Leader, we're right above you," Luke noted. "Turn to point oh-five. We'll cover you both."_

_"Stay there," Red Leader commanded. "I just—I just lost my starboard engine. Get ready for your attack run."_

_"Yes, sir," Luke responded, feeling excitement bubble up. He loved to fly._

_But then the skilled TIE pilot came up, and Luke stared at him, an ominous feeling of hatred growing deep in his belly. And then the pilot's lasers were blaring and hitting Red Leader, who went into a spin and with a scream met a fiery death below._

_A feeling of frustrated helplessness welled up in him, and Luke's memory of the Death Star attack became hazy from that point. All he could remember was burning anger, Obi-Wan's voice, and a massive explosion._

_Afterward, he was told that he'd commanded Wedge and Alesya to leave because their ships had been disabled, that he'd cried out when Biggs had died, that Han and Chewie had come to save him, and that he'd destroyed several TIE fighters before finally dealing a fatal blow to the Death Star._

_After he was told what he had done, he asked one question: "Did I destroy the TIE squadron's leader?"_

_No, he had not. One TIE fighter had managed to escape the explosion and jump into hyperspace._


	9. Separation

_Luke was sitting on his bed, still clad in his orange flightsuit. All the lights were off in his room, and his boots were barely touching the cold stone floor._

_He could hear voices outside his door. They were talking about him._

_"I can't get him to speak at all," Alesya was saying in a low voice that was nonetheless audible to Luke due to the acoustics of the Massassi temple's hallway. "I only hope you can help somehow."_

_"I will try," Obi-Wan said soothingly._

_The door opened, letting artificial light into the dark room. Luke's hunched back was facing the entrance, but as the door closed, darkness reigned once again, so his back was no longer visible._

_"You would not listen to me," the Jedi said quietly. They both knew what he was talking about—during the Death Star run, he had tried to talk to Luke both with the Force and through the communications system. But Luke had never responded to his warnings or his pleas. "You allowed yourself to embrace the Dark Side, Luke."_

_"I want to kill him," Luke said in a soft voice._

_Obi-Wan waited for more to come, but, when it did not, he spoke. "Your hatred is fueled by the Dark Side, Luke. Don't let yourself succumb to evil."_

_"How, then? How are you supposed to destroy evil without becoming evil yourself?"_

_"It is a fine line," the Jedi said carefully. "But it is noble to refuse to cross it. If you leave Yavin and come with me to Dagobah, you will learn more about the Light Side and the Dark. The galaxy needs your help, Luke. But we cannot risk your becoming another Vader."_

_There was a whip through the air, as if Luke had twisted his head up and around. "It was him, wasn't it?"_

_Obi-Wan did not respond._

_"I felt a darkness surrounding him. He does not deserve to live."_

_"He has done many evil things," Obi-Wan acknowledged. He sensed Luke stand up and move toward him._

_"I will go with you to Dagobah."_

* * *

**  
**_He told Obi-Wan he would meet him in an hour. Obi-Wan suggested they both take a shuttle, but Luke insisted on being able to fly in his X-wing with Artoo. So, it was decided they would take two separate ships._

_After Obi-Wan left, Alesya came in. "Are you all right, Luke?" she asked tentatively._

_He nodded, moving abruptly to embrace her._

_"They're having a ceremony tomorrow, Luke," she informed him, "to honor the pilots who helped destroy the Death Star."_

_"We're not going," he told her with closed eyes as he stroked her hair. "I'd like to go to Dagobah with Obi-Wan right away."_

_Alesya stiffened slightly, pulling away and turning her head aside. "I'm—I'm not going with you to Dagobah."_

_He opened his eyes, his face a blank mask. He stared at her wordlessly._

_"I'd like to stay here and help rebuild Red Squadron. We—we were talking about renaming it Rogue Squadron." She turned her gaze to his face. "The Empire isn't dead yet, Luke. The Alliance still needs pilots—I can help here, Luke. I'd be useless on Dagobah. I can't use the Force like you can."_

_Luke moved away from her. In a cold voice, he told her, "I do not want you to stay here. I want you to come with me."_

_"Luke—" she tried to protest, moving to place a hand on his shoulder._

_He grabbed her hand and held it in the air. Furiously, he said, "It is too dangerous for you to fly again. Do you know how many pilots just died? Do you know how close _we_ came to dying? One day, I will avenge their deaths. But I will not let you die. I will grow more powerful, and then I will be able to protect you. But until then, I cannot let you put yourself in danger."_

_"Luke, you're hurting me," she said in a fearful tone, trying to wrench her arm free. He finally let it go. "You are not my babysitter, Luke." Her voice was trembling. "I took care of myself before you came along, and I can continue to do so." She moved toward the door, only to step backwards as it opened._

_"I sensed anger," Obi-Wan said, looking past her to Luke._

_"I want her to go with us to Dagobah," the younger man said in a flat voice._

_"I'm going to stay here and help the Alliance," Alesya said stubbornly._

_Obi-Wan gave her a small smile before walking slowly toward Luke. "She is right, Luke. She _should_ stay here. She would merely be a distraction on Dagobah…And surely you know that your wife would go mad if she could not be useful?"_

_Luke turned a hard gaze to his wife, but after a few seconds it softened. "I don't want her to die," he whispered._

_"She will be fine, Luke," Obi-Wan said in an assuring voice. His wise eyes met Luke's distress-filled ones. "She can take of herself."_

_There was a long pause, as the two men stared at each other. They had different pasts, different short-term goals, but they were both united in their long-term goal of rebuilding the Jedi Order. As Luke gazed at the older man, he realized that Obi-Wan also wanted the best for Alesya. And the best thing for her was to let her do what she'd been waiting for years to do. Her chance to make a difference was with the Rogues; Luke's was with two Jedi Masters on Dagobah._

_The young man took in a deep breath, releasing his anger. "All right," he agreed reluctantly._

_"Pack your things, Luke," Obi-Wan said gently. "I will meet you in the hangar and give you Dagobah's coordinates."_

* * *

**  
**_Alesya went with Luke to the hangar to see him off._

_She hugged him tightly. "Don't worry, Luke."_

_"I will miss you, Alesya Skywalker."_

_"And I will miss you." She smiled, pulling back to ruffle his hair. "You scruffy bantha-for-brains."_

_"Well, just remember, I'm _your_ scruffy bantha-for-brains," he told her with a grin._

_Alesya laughed. "How could I forget?"_

_He leaned down and kissed her. "Remember me, and don't do anything stupid. I will think of you every day, my angel."_

_"I know." She looked down as he squeezed her hand, and then she watched as he walked away with his small pack to meet with Obi-Wan._

_His hand was as soft and loving as always, but there was something in his eyes that made her shiver. She prayed to the Force that he wouldn't lose any more people who were close to him, for it was such death, she feared, that would be his undoing._


	10. Choices

_He thought of her every day, just like he'd said. When he met Yoda, he thought of how she'd be amused by him, and so he was kind to the stranger, though part of him had wanted to make an annoyed outburst. After learning of the alien's identity, he had felt ashamed for his unkind inclination, thinking of what Alesya would have said about his thoughts._

_His training was difficult, but he did not complain. He just concentrated as hard as he could, relishing the day he could finally leave this swampy place and rejoin with his love._

_One day, after Luke had jogged through the swamp for a while, Yoda told him to stop. Setting down the little alien, the young human grabbed his shirt from a nearby tree branch and put it on._

_"Think of her often, you do," Yoda observed quietly._

_Luke knew better than to question how the Jedi Master knew about his thoughts. So, he simply responded, "Yes, I do."_

_"Beware attachments, young Skywalker," Yoda told him. "At the center of a Jedi's life, compassion is, but of the Dark Side is attachment. Attachments lead to fear, to anger, to aggression. The Dark Side, are they…"_

_"Master Yoda, how do I know the good side from the bad?"_

_"When calm, you are. At peace. Remember, you must, a Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack."_

_He nodded. The lesson mirrored the ones Obi-Wan had been giving him. The two Jedi Masters took turns in teaching him—Master Yoda was more knowledgeable, but at 900 years old, he was easily fatigued, so Obi-Wan would help relieve him by teaching Luke._

_Luke turned his eyes to the giant gnarled tree he was standing near. He had been trying to ignore its darkness, but it had been beckoning to him. The tree's roots formed a giant cave that made Luke shiver. "There's something cold here, Master Yoda. It feels like darkness, like death."_

_"Strong with the Dark Side, this place is," Yoda told him from his seat on a root. Prodding the ground with his gimer stick, he said, "In there, you must go."_

_"Why?" Luke asked. "What's in there?"_

_"Only what you take with you," the Jedi responded cryptically._

_Not liking that answer, Luke moved toward his weapon belt, strapping it on._

_"Your weapons—you will not need them."_

_But Luke looked once more at the cave and shook his head. He would take his weapons._

* * *

**  
**_As he made his way through the slimy cave, it felt like hours were passing, when, really, he was sure it could only have been minutes._

_The creepy crawlies of the swamp dotted the walls of the cave, but he ignored them. They would not hurt him if he left them alone._

_He pushed forward, past roots and sludge. Finally, the cave widened, and he stopped dead in his tracks._

_There was the telltale hiss of a lightsaber igniting, and a red glow soon filled the cave. Luke realized in an instant that this was his enemy—_the_ enemy. Darth Vader._

_Without hesitation, Luke brought up his lightsaber and lit it, striking his opponent with all of his might, slicing off the man's sword arm and then slashing through his neck._

_Vader's head fell to the ground, and Luke watched it as if in slow-motion. The head rolled, slowly coming to a stop at his feet. With a flash, the mask split in two, falling away to reveal Luke's own head._

_"No…" Luke whispered. He fell to his knees. He could not become like that monster._

* * *

**  
**_As each day went by, and there were many, he missed his wife more and more. He was discovering how to levitate things with his mind, how to extend his endurance, how to anticipate his opponents' moves—but still, these things could not distract him. They were like checkpoints on his mission to return to Alesya. As he grew better at using the Force, he also grew better at hiding his feelings from both his Masters. They did not love. They could not understand._

_On the muddy planet of Dagobah, he was out of touch with the outside world. He did not know what was going on with the Alliance, and his heart ached to learn. But still, he continued to train. Still, he struggled to become a Jedi Knight._

_One day, Luke was standing upside down on one hand, raising his other to levitate objects. Five rocks, two equipment cases, and then a squealing Artoo were lifted into the air._

_"Yes, yes. Feel the Force flow, Luke," Yoda said. "Concentrate. At peace, yes…Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future; the past; old friends long gone."_

_Luke was listening to Yoda's voice when suddenly his heart started pounding and images flashed through his mind. In anguish, he cried out, "Alesya! Han! Leia!"_

_Then both he and the levitating objects came crashing to the ground._

_Yoda shook his head in disappointment. "Control, Luke, _control_. You must learn _control_."_

_Luke tried to catch his breath. "I—I saw—a city in the clouds." But that wasn't all. Stars, that wasn't all…_

_"Mmm," Yoda nodded. "Friends you have there."_

_"Han and Leia were in pain, and—" he swallowed, unable to tame his beating heart. "Alesya was…" He couldn't say the word; he could only think it: dying._

_"It is the future you see," Yoda told him seriously._

_Luke felt his heart skip a beat. "The future?" he rasped. "Will they die?" Would _she_ die?_

_The old Jedi Master closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Difficult to see, the future is. Always in motion…"_

_"Master Yoda, I must go to them."_

_Yoda stared down at his gimer stick. "Decide, you must, how to serve them best. If leave now, you do, help them, you could…But you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."_

_Yoda's words sent a chill down his spine. But he knew what he had to do._

* * *

**  
**_As Luke finished loading his supplies into his X-wing, Yoda continued to plead with him. "Luke! Stay, you must, and complete your training."_

_"Master Yoda, I have to go help them."_

_"You must not go!" the alien insisted._

_"But they will die if I don't!" Luke countered._

_"You don't know that," Obi-Wan said. "Not even Yoda can see their fate."_

_"I can help them, Obi-Wan!" Luke exclaimed. "I feel the Force now."_

_"But you cannot control it properly …This is a dangerous time for you, Luke," Obi-Wan said gently. "If you go, you will be tempted by the Dark Side of the Force."_

_"Yes, yes!" Yoda nodded. "To Obi-Wan, you must listen. The cave…Remember your failure at the _cave_!"_

_Luke sighed. "But Master Yoda, I've learned so much since then. I'm ready now. I'm ready to face the trials of a Jedi."_

_"You are not ready, Luke," Obi-Wan told him quietly. "The Emperor wants you and your abilities—that is why your friends must suffer."_

_"And that is why I must go," the younger man returned._

_Obi-Wan stepped closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want to lose you to the Emperor the way I lost Vader, Luke."_

_"And you won't, Obi-Wan."_

_"Stopped, Vader and the Emperor must be," Yoda said. "And stopped, they can only be, by a fully trained Jedi Knight. If go now, you do, then you will be choosing the quick and easy path like Vader did, and an agent of evil, you will become."_

_"Be patient, Luke," Obi-Wan pressed._

_Luke shook his head. "And sacrifice my friends and my wife?"_

_Yoda pursed his lips. "If you honor what they fight for—yes."_

_The young Jedi apprentice looked from one of his masters to the other in anguish._

_"Luke, do not let your fear drive you," Obi-Wan said quietly. "Fear is what led Vader astray. Do not turn into what Vader has become."_

_Luke stared at Obi-Wan. Stricken, he whispered, "But I love her…"_

_"Then let her go, Luke. Do not become Vader."_

_Luke clenched his fists at his side. His mind flashed back to the cave—he was in danger of becoming like Vader. He knew it. They knew it._

_He felt as if his heart were about to be wrenched out of his chest as he whispered the words: "I will stay."_


	11. Rage

_Luke returned to his levitation exercises, but this time he did them standing. He felt too shaken to trust his arms to hold him, and so he simply stood as he lifted objects in the air with the Force._

_Obi-Wan had gone off to meditate, but Yoda stayed with him, quietly encouraging him to be at peace._

_It was difficult, but Luke tried to reach for that inner calm. _A Jedi must be calm, at peace,_ he told himself._

_He managed to stack three rocks on top of each other. He didn't levitate Artoo this time; he had been fortunate enough not to hurt the little droid when he'd dropped him before, and he didn't want to tempt Fate._

_He reached out with his mind, grabbing one more rock and placing it on the others. He was at peace. He was—_

_A sudden rip through his calm brought him to his knees._

_He felt first panic and then a searing pain in his chest; then he saw the image of a dark helmet fading into blackness._

_"_NOOOO_!!" he screamed, pressing his forehead against the ground, as if trying to grin painful images out of his head. "No," he rasped. Desperately, he reached out for the Force. Past, present, future. Past present future. Pastpresentfuture._

_A scene flashed before his eyes:_

"I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever," a dark-skinned man was saying.

Sliding doors opened to the dining room, and the group—

_The image faded, and he reached out to the Force, growling, "No. No!" Past present future. Pastpresentfuture._

—the group, which was composed of Han, Leia, Alesya, Chewie, and a few others, was suddenly facing Darth Vader, a strange armored man, and several Stormtroopers.

Han and Alesya—the only ones who had come armed—brought up their blasters, firing off several shots at Vader.

An overeager Stormtrooper standing beside Vader sent one shot back as the Sith Lord brought Han's and Alesya's blasters to him with the Force. The shot found a mark, hitting Alesya straight in the chest.

"Alesya!" Han cried. He rushed forward and would have scrambled over the table toward Vader to strangle him had a tight voice not caused him to pause and turn his head.

"Han!" Leia bit out. A Stormtrooper had grabbed her and pressed his weapon against her head.

"Stand still and put your hands on the back of your head," the Stormtrooper ordered, "or she will die."

Han gave the Imperial a hard look, as if evaluating whether or not he could jump him, before finally nodding and complying.

"I'm sorry, Han," the man who had been talking before said quietly. He looked truly contrite. "I'm really sorry."

Han shook his head as a pair of Stormtroopers cuffed him. "You don't even know what sorry is." He stared down at Alesya's body, which one of the Stormtroopers was kneeling beside.

The Stormtrooper stood and looked at Vader. "She's dead, my lord."

_Luke grabbed his hair and with clenched fists forced his forehead down further in the swampy ground. "No. No."_

_He lifted his head, his eyes narrowed. Mud dripping down into his eyes, he slowly got to his feet, finally allowing himself to hear the words Yoda had been speaking._

_"Release your anger, Luke. A part of the Force, she has become." The small Jedi Master stood in between him and the path to his fighter._

_"Move," he hissed._

_"In this state, leave you cannot, Luke." The alien looked sad, repentant almost, but in his anger Luke did not notice._

_"MOVE!" he ordered, lifting his hand and using the Force to sweep Yoda aside._

_The Jedi Master would have hit a tree had he not used the Force to stop it from happening. Lowering himself to the ground, Yoda watched as Luke began running toward his X-wing. "Luke!" he called out._

_But the name was spoken in vain._

_Luke managed to place Artoo in his X-wing and lift the ship in the air before Obi-Wan managed to say anything to him, though he had seen the Jedi running toward him in an attempt to stop him from leaving._

_He watched in cold anger as Obi-Wan ran to his shuttle. The Jedi was going to follow him. He should have expected it._

_Artoo warbled, catching his attention. A strange force was pulling the ship down._

_Luke reached toward the Force with his anger, counteracting the invisible grip so that he would be able to leave the planet. "I will have my revenge," he promised himself._

_But his anger began to slip, and, as he made the jump into hyperspace, he rested his forehead against his controls, and two tears slipped from his eyes. _

* * *

_  
After Luke arrived at Cloud City, he told Artoo to stay with the ship, and he went where the Force guided him. In one hallway, he got a brief glimpse of Leia, who yelled at him, "Luke—it's a trap!" before disappearing with Chewie and her Imperial escort. Luke tried to follow them, but it seemed like his path was already decided for him, and he soon found himself standing in a carbon freezing chamber. Though his anger was still hot, he walked forward warily._

___A machine began to hiss, letting out steam. A voice from a walkway above him began to speak. "The Force told me you would come," Darth Vader said. The Sith Lord took a few steps forward. "So, you are the pilot who destroyed the Death Star. You are the one who murdered all those men, including Tarkin, who I'd come to dispatch for allowing the princess to escape." The man's voice was almost a purr. "For that, I thank you. Yes, the Force is with you, Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet."_

___Luke lit his saber and began moving up the stairs. In a low, angry voice, he said, "Because of you, my wife is dead."_

___"Her death was accidental, I assure you," the man in black said offhandedly. "She was not meant to die yet."_

___Luke took that moment to lunge at his opponent, who blocked his blow with ease. "You are the scum of the galaxy, Vader," he growled, "and I intend to remove you from your position of power forever."_

___They exchanged several blows as Luke pressed furiously forward. "No longer will you be an agent of death," he said in a low voice, lunging again and slicing off the top of the armor on Vader's left shoulder before Vader pushed aside his blade._

___"Your anger is strong," Vader said. "Let it feed you—embrace the Dark Side."_

___Luke intensified his assault, pushing Vader back. "You're going to pay for all the people you've killed," Luke snarled. "And that's a promise."_

___The young man's rage fed his movements, giving him energy, allowing him to remain on the offensive as Vader stayed on the defensive._

___"Luke!" a voice called, causing Luke to turn his head._

___Vader chose that moment to strike, and Luke narrowly avoided having his arm cut off._

___"Luke," Obi-Wan said in a pleading tone. "Turn away from your anger. You cannot use dark methods to get rid of darkness. Killing Vader in anger will not bring your wife back to life. You will merely become like him."_

___Luke's face contorted in anger. "If it weren't for you," he hissed, "she'd still be alive."_

___Obi-Wan stepped near him, a hand outstretched, and Luke suddenly turned from fighting Vader to lunging at Obi-Wan, who almost didn't get his saber up and ignited in time._

___"Because of you, I will never see her again!" Luke shouted. He released an onslaught of blows, and it was all Obi-Wan could do to parry them. Luke was crying now. "Because of you, I will have to tell her parents that I couldn't protect their little girl…My angel…She's gone. She's_ gone!_" His face contorted, he shouted, "Obi-Wan, I hate you!"_

___Vader stood by watching._

* * *

___  
_He was fighting with Obi-Wan, the man who had been his mentor. The man who had been his friend. The man who had been like a father to him.

Their sabers clashed, blue on blue, bright flashes of light jumping out with each blow. Rage was all he could feel. It pumped through his body and filled his soul. The blur of blue in front of him meant nothing to him.

Images surged through his mind, feeding his rage.

___Obi-Wan, approaching him from the darkness, requesting that he not marry._

___Obi-Wan, standing with Yoda, caring more about a flawed order than a person's happiness._

_____Obi-Wan, the perfect Jedi, standing on muddy ground, convincing him not to save his wife from dying._

Sweat was pouring down both their faces. He knew it was there, though he couldn't feel it. But like the clashing sabers, it meant nothing to him.

Neither of them had ever fought a battle like this. He was fighting out of anger, sorrow, desperation, and it was all Obi-Wan could do to block his blows. The older man's experience was nothing compared to the raw emotion emanating from _his_ entire being.

Somehow, he knew that he could kill Obi-Wan right now if he wanted. Just as he knew Obi-Wan could do the same to him.

Instead of reaching that end, they remained locked in a dance, an elegant procrastination of the inevitable outcome of this confrontation.

In the back of his mind, a thought whispered, _How could it come to all this?_

How had Luke Skywalker come to be pitted in a duel against his Jedi Master?

How could she have died? _How_ could this have happened?

"Why are you fighting me?" Luke gritted. "You know I will kill you."

"Luke," Obi-Wan pleaded, tears shining in his eyes, "don't let anger consume you. You were supposed to save the galaxy. You were the Jedi's last hope."

"What good is a life without love, Obi-Wan?" Luke asked, slashing desperately.

"The Jedi _do_ love, Luke," Obi-Wan insisted. He was becoming winded. "We just believe in selfless love."

"If you'd believed in love, you would have let me go," Luke told him. He flipped and landed behind Obi-Wan. The Jedi turned and gave him a sad look before Luke sliced through his midsection.


	12. Reversal

But the Jedi had disappeared, and all Luke slashed through was his robe. Breathing heavily, Luke stared down at the crumpled cloth. Suddenly, his anger started to drain from him, and he fell to his knees in horror. "Obi-Wan," he whispered, his eyes welling up with bitter tears. What had he done?

Vader chose this moment to walk forward. "Good," he purred. "You did the right thing, Luke."

Luke swallowed, gathering up the fabric and clenching it in his hands. "He wasn't the one that killed her," he said in a hoarse voice. "He was like a father to me. He was all I had left."

"Luke," Vader said softly, "did Obi-Wan ever tell you what happened to your real father?"

"Yes," Luke said with a nod, looking dazed. "He told me you killed him."

Quietly, almost gently, Vader told him, "No, Luke. He lied to you. I am your father."

* * *

Luke heard the words, but it took him a while to understand them. At last, he finally spoke. "No. He would not have lied to me."

"But he did, Luke. Search your feelings. He lied to you, just as he betrayed me all those years ago. The Jedi are not to be trusted, Luke."

"But the Sith cannot love." Clenching a piece of fabric from Obi-Wan's robe, Luke got to his feet.

"And who was it that led to the death of your wife? Was it not the very man you were following? The Jedi you trusted?"

Luke clutched the fabric in his right hand, tucking his chin into his chest. _Obi-Wan…_

"The Jedi cannot be trusted, Luke. Obi-Wan's actions also led to your mother's death."

The young man lifted his head sharply. He felt like pieces of a puzzle had suddenly come together. This, then, must have been what caused the fall of Anakin Skywalker, what Obi-Wan had been fearing would happen to Luke. Having a jealous attachment to loved ones…Blaming the death of a wife on a man who had been like a father…

He knew Obi-Wan had truly cared about Anakin. Just as he had always truly cared about Anakin's son. And now, due to Luke's mistake, that man—that man who had been able to love in a way that was pure, untarnished by selfish attachment—was now gone.

But Luke would not become another Vader. Tilting his head back and closing his eyes, he felt his anger draining away. He would forsake the darkness; he would return to the light.

"I will become a Jedi," he said aloud.

Vader sensed the change in his son's Force sense but tried to conceal his surprise. "You will return to those who killed your wife?"

Luke shook his head. "They did not kill my wife. They encouraged me to let her live the life she wanted to live. She would not have regretted dying as she did; she will simply live on in my memory."

Darth Vader took a few steps toward him, sensing that he was losing him. "The Dark Side could make you powerful. You could join me, and we could strike down the Emperor, ruling the galaxy as father and son."

"No," Luke shook his head. "I belong in the light, as do you, Father…I must leave and complete my training. But we will meet again."

Vader raised his lightsaber. "I cannot let the Emperor's prize go."

Staring with his crystal clear blue eyes into the dark glossy helmet of his father, Luke slowly shook his head. "You can, and you will, for I'm going to walk the path you should have."

As Luke put distance between him and his father, he felt saddened but free. He had loved his wife, and he always would. But the son would not repeat the mistakes of the father. Instead, he would reverse his spiral into darkness and focus his life back on the light…

He would live for his wife, even if he had to live without her.

He could feel Vader's eyes on him as he left the room. The Sith Lord didn't move to follow him, and Luke knew then that there was still good in him. He hadn't completely lost all of his family—there was still hope for a reversal.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** And that's the end. I hope you don't despise it--I made a list of possible ways this could end, none of which I was happy with, but one night while lying in bed I came up with this. It's how I like to picture Luke--walking the path his father should have. The parallels I've created are an attempt to emphasize that. I hope you're not disappointed, but I appreciate both positive and negative feedback.  
**


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